Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-11-14
A MONGO1IAN DAME.
CHINESE WIFE OF THE SETTER
CLASS IN NEW YORK.

4 Visit to Mrs. San Chong-How She
Employs Her Time in seclusion-Ber
Dress and Hou sshold surroundings-But
Is Not Happy.
The moment she marries the Mongolian
iamsel becomes the property of her hus
banda little more SO than they do in
America. Her spouse has the privilege, as
oil husbands the world over, to chide,
scold and chastise her for her faults, and
they assert that in cases Of grave crime,
he has the right to kill her. In his punish.
mcnt he may put her on what we would
call bread and water diet, keep her locked
up in bedroom. closet or cellar, or beat
her with his hands or n bamboo rod In
this respect the Chinese law is almost a
fac simile of the common law which
prevailed in England and this country
until about 1905. and which allowed the
husband TO correct" his wife with
"thc open hand or hight rod" but not
with 1.-The clenched fist nor club. "
Under this custom the average almond
eyed woman expects To he beaten with a
regularity proportional to her Queued
lords affection, and, like the wives
nf English "navvies," regards the omis-
sion of corporal punishment as a sure evil
dence of the loss of his love.
In New York the Chinese family lives
In the same fiat or building as that in
which the pater familias does business.
To 10 the wife is allotted one, two or three
rooms, according 10 his wealth. From
these she practically never stirs. Either
her husband or servant does all the
marketing and shopping. Still worse, she
must not receive calls from the other sex
excepting i'll rare cases when the husband
presents an intimate fr end. On such an
occasion the visitor bows repeatedly,
shakes his own ha d vigorously for u
rninute or two, ute the usual stereo-
typed remarks about the health of her
self, family, cousin and friends, and de-
parts without having once looked at her
face, Where is the American who could
do that
WIFE IN HER BoUDoIR.
Lee Chick San Chong, a merchant Of
Mott street. captured by my smiles. con-
sented to introduce me to his wife and her
b,adoir, which supposed would be as in
in the basement and his wife lived on the
first floor above. l followed my guide
through dirty, uncarpeted hall to door
n. the farthest end He raped rather
vigorously with his knuckles ON the pOr-
tai, which had no outside knob or latch.
After while it was unlocked on the in
side; he pushed it open, and we stood on
the inside. Almost in the rear Of the
room, with some sewing in her hand,
stood the woman had come to see. She
smiled at her husband and looked at me
without fear or surprise. but as babe
looks at a new object before its innocent
eyes. Lee Chick San ChonS spoke to her
in his peculiar language, and then, turn
ing to me. said: My wife, Another
moment and the little brown fingers COW
cred with rings were clasped in my gloved
hand and we were looking at each other
as only two women can. What she saw
is left to the imagination, but this is what
| gaZed upon with interest:
A little woman, not more than five feet
high, with the blackest of eyes, which
were larger and more open than those of
the average Chinamau. She had the
typical Mongoli.n face, with complex
ion that from the exclusion OF sunlight
resembied bleached golden wax. Her
blue black hair was combed back without
II part, dressed over the ears like n half
oyster shell. and down the back of the
head in n long oblong Puff. Gold rings
kept it all in place, but it had the appear
ance of being soaped to make it smooth
and stiff The forehead was extremely
high. and the eyebrows had IA habitually
surprised curve. The cheeks were round,
dotted with charming dimpies, the nose a
little inclined to 1atness, but withal pi-
Guante, the teeth exquisitely white and
beautifully shaped, and the lips either
artiiicially dyed, or naturally n rich car
mine. With the air and look Of childish
innocence, Mrs. San ChoEg was not bad
to look at
BEAUTY OF HER DRESS.
But her dress! 1t is hard TO describe it
so as to give an idea of its delicate beauty
1t was light blue silken robe trimmed
with bands Of crimson silk. The upper
robe was made with flowing sleeves, which
disclosed "a similar white silk robe under
meath. The skirt OF petticoat, OF plain
crimson. was made precisely straight, and
touched the floor. Her tiny feet, not
more than five inches in length, were
covered with white silk hosiery, and in
serted in dainty Chinese slippers OF blue
silk, embroidered in gold, with white satin
covered soles. Her arms were loaded
with bracelets of several kinds. and her
ears held rings of enormous size. Her
silver thimble. with which she had been
sewing, still clasped the little brown
finger. 1t was a silver band worn on the
second joint of the middle finger. Mrs
San Chong moved around with a quiet
grace and ease that would be the envy Of
Fifth avenue belle.
Our conversation was limited, but Lee
Chick was a good English scholar and did
the translating. lie is teaching Mrs. San
Chong English, but she forgets. She
reads poetry, history and love stories, and
spends all her day alone. her husband
leaving in the morning and not returning
until evening. She never visits; cannot
BE- induced to quit her quarters. All her
food is cooked by servant in the store,
and her husband carries all the meals to
her room.
is your wife satisfied" asked Lee
Chick. NO. she is not. She is perfectly
happy in her home life. having no other
desire, but she is childless, the greatest
Lee Chick is also very much dissatisfied
at the rate his family refuses to increase.
After trying unsuccessfully to adopt some
American child he has decided to take this
wife back to China and leave her there.
H. will then procure himself another.
He has already one wife in China and two
children, but she refuses to come to
America. Lee Chick wants an American
for No. 3, and he made the writer pro-
posal. He was told that men outside OF
Utah We're allowed but one wife, and that
if they were found to have one in Brook
lyn and one in Harlem they would get
into serious trouble. Two wives in one
room in China no trouble" was his reply.
This is uncomfortable, but it is true.
With all their addition in wives divorce
and infldelity are very rare.-Nelly BLY, in
Cleveland Leader.